Schoenherr has advised Austrian shared-mobility start-up UBIQ on its series A financing round.

The Central Bank of Hungary (MNB) is encouraging the banking sector to increase the level of green loans. To this end, significantly reduced capital requirements have been put in place when applying for loans, and green company bonds were introduced in summer 2020 as part of the MNB bond funding for growth scheme. The Hungarian government is now ready to intervene to achieve climate neutrality.

Schoenherr has advised the China-based Shanghai Electric Power Co. Ltd. on its full acquisition of two project companies developing a PV project portfolio with a total capacity of 100 megawatts in Inarcs, near Budapest, from a Greencells Group subsidiary. Erdos Katona reportedly advised the sellers.

Vernon David and Filip & Company have advised Moldova's Victoriabank on its acquisition of the Chisinau subsidiary of Banca Comerciala Romana. Schoenherr advised the seller.

Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, only eleven lawyers in CEE have worked on four or more reported Energy/Natural Resources deals in CEE since March 1, 2022?

On March 20, 2023, Sajic announced that the EUR 190 million financing transaction between the Export-Import Bank of China and HE Dabar for the development of the Dabar hydropower plant (reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 19, 2022) had closed.

Schoenherr has advised joint lead managers Danske Bank, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale, Erste Group Bank, Natixis, Raiffeisen Bank International, and UniCredit Bank on the EUR 500 million issuance by Volksbank Wien of 4.750% green ordinary senior eligible notes due March 2027. Wolf Theiss advised Volksbank Wien.

The first article in this series looked at the background to energy crisis law and its implication for the proposed single market emergency instrument (SMEI) (for further details, see "Insight into regulatory crisis instruments to solve crises in European Union").

Schoenherr, working with Morgan Lewis, has advised Pathlight Capital on its term loan to Lumos Holdings US Acquisition Co. Baker McKenzie advised Lumos in Hungary and the UK.

Contributed by Schoenherr.

Schoenherr has advised OMV on establishing a geothermal energy joint venture with Wien Energie. Schima Mayer Starlinger reportedly advised Wien Energie.

Schoenherr has advised Robert Bosch Investment Nederland on its acquisition of a minority stake in Hungarian thermo-technology company Kazantrade and the related asset deal that saw RBIN sell its Serbian thermo-technology business to Kazantrade's Serbian subsidiary. Sole practitioner Zsolt Simanyi reportedly advised the Hungarian seller and target company.

Schoenherr has advised both the lending group and the borrower on a deal that saw ODDO BHF and GLAS Trust Limited finance Afinum's acquisition of the Christian Koenen Group. Germany's Astera Legal and GLNS Rechtsanwaelte reportedly also advised the lenders and the borrower, respectively.

Gender equality in the workplace refers to the fair and equal treatment of individuals of different genders in all aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, pay and job duties. Achieving gender equality is essential to creating a diverse, inclusive workplace that supports all employees.

Schoenherr, working with Travers Smith and Roschier, has advised Inflexion on the acquisition of a majority stake in European financial technology company Nomentia from PSG Equity and Verdane.

Zivkovic Samardzic, working with Milbank, has advised the shareholders of Eurobank Direktna Beograd on its sale to AIK Banka Beograd. Schoenherr and Holman Fenwick Willan advised AIK Banka.

Serious crimes, such as tax evasion, corruption offenses, or money laundering provoke serious responses from law enforcement authorities. When such offenses are committed, the law provides for compulsory precautionary measures to be taken against the assets of the offenders, at any stage of the criminal proceedings.

After the covid-19 pandemic, the EU economy is now being disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The rising energy prices and disrupted supply chains have resulted in a further increase in inflation. According to the Hungarian Central Statistics Office, average inflation in Hungary was 24.5% in December 2022, the highest in the European Union. However, inflation of food products was even higher, reaching a staggering 44.8% year-on-year price increase by December 2022. This number is almost three times higher than the EU average.